The Wild Boys (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead | |
|---|---|
 1st edition cover |
|
| Author(s) | William S. Burroughs |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Grove Press |
| Publication date | 1971 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 184 pp (HB) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-394-47586-0 (HB) |
| OCLC Number | 222299 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.5/4 |
| LC Classification | PZ4.B972 Wi PS3552.U75 |
The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead is a novel written by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs. It was first published in 1971 by Grove Press.
[edit] Film adaptation
Russell Mulcahy wanted to direct a film adaptation, and talked to Duran Duran about writing the soundtrack, but the project never came to fruition.[1]
The novel inspired the Duran Duran song "The Wild Boys".[1]
[edit] Allusions in other works
- The clothes, hair, and makeup of David Bowie's character Ziggy Stardust was based on the description of the Wild Boys in the book. According to Bowie, "it was a cross between that and Clockwork Orange that really started to put together the shape and the look of what Ziggy and the Spiders were going to become. They were both powerful pieces of work, especially the marauding boy gangs of Burroughs's Wild Boys with their bowie knives. I got straight on to that. I read everything into everything. Everything had to be infinitely symbolic."[2]
- The post-punk band The Soft Boys took their name from a combination The Wild Boys and The Soft Machine.[3]
- Former Joy Division front-man Ian Curtis mentioned The Wild Boys as one of his favourite books. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b VH1 interview with John Taylor
- ^ Christopher Sandford, Bowie: Loving The Alien. Da Capo Press, 2003, 1998. ISBN 978-0-306-80854-8
- ^ Hitchcock, Soft Boys Still Rock Hard
- ^ Jon Savage on Ian Curtis's reading
